Enlarge image
Want to lead Tanzania democratically: Samia Suluhu Hassan, the new president
Photo: AP
In some reports she is called Suluhu, often just Samia.
Or lovingly "Mama Samia".
Her full name is Samia Suluhu Hassan.
You will have to remember this woman's name, because she is currently the only head of government in Africa - and the first Muslim woman to hold this office in Tanzania.
Until March 19, the day she was sworn in, the inconspicuous Vice President Hassan was hardly known to many of her Tanzanian compatriots.
In the meantime, she is being celebrated like a savior in all the media in the country.
Because the new president made a breathtaking start and corrected the errors of her deceased predecessor John Magufuli in the first few days of office.
In no time at all, Samia Suluhu Hassan issued no less than 29 orders:
They range from collecting outstanding tax payments,
about the immediate filling of 6000 vacancies for teachers,
to the intensified fight against corruption and the relaxation of press censorship.
Pregnant girls who have been banned from schools are allowed to return to class immediately.
Hassan rebuilt the cabinet and fired incompetent top officials, including the heads of the social security fund and the tax authorities.
She arrested the general director of the port administration, who is said to have embezzled the equivalent of around 1.3 million euros.
Radical U-turn in Corona policy
The greatest sensation, however, caused the radical turnaround in Corona policy.
Her predecessor Magufuli, a trained chemist, had denied the pandemic in his country and terminated the cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO).
He rejected protective masks, distance rules and vaccines, instead he recommended prayers and medicinal herbs.
Enlarge image
Deceased Magufuli: The narrow-minded autocrat was particularly popular among the poor
Photo: Khalfan Said / AP
The autocratic ruling president had driven the East African country into isolation, while at the same time it became a popular holiday destination for corona deniers.
In addition, a new, strongly mutated variant of the virus was created.
John Magufuli passed away on March 17th after a brief serious illness, rumors persist that he died of Covid-19.
Such determination has seldom been seen in power transfers in Africa
And then for the first time a woman takes over the helm - and immediately throws it around.
Such determination has seldom been seen in power transfers in Africa.
Nobody had thought Samia Suluhu Hassan would do that;
Until then she was considered a quiet, reserved politician.
The constitution provides for the 61-year-old to automatically move up to the top of the state as number two.
Nevertheless, party cadres from the Magufuli camp initially saw their appointment only as a temporary solution;
they are said to have thought about alternative candidates behind the scenes.
"As a church leader, I am happy that we are now acting on the basis of scientific knowledge"
Bishop Msafiri Mbilu
It was high time the pandemic was taken seriously.
The actual number of infections is unknown, but the consequences are also devastating in Tanzania.
"As a church leader, I am happy that action is now being taken on the basis of scientific knowledge," explains the respected Protestant Bishop Msafiri Mbilu in a statement that SPIEGEL has received.
He welcomed the inauguration of the Muslim head of state without reservation - another novelty.
Born in Zanzibar, devout Muslim, mother of four - and graduate economist
Even political opponents were impressed by her brisk approach.
"Respect for Samia Suluhu Hassan," tweeted Zitto Kabwe, a prominent opposition politician.
Above all, he hopes that it will abolish the draconian laws under which he himself suffered: According to his own account, Kabwe was arrested 16 times during the Magufuli era and imprisoned for months.
Enlarge image
Hassan at Magufuli's funeral: Even the opposition pays her respect
Photo: AP
Who is this woman who turned things upside down overnight?
Little is known about Hassan's personal life.
Born in January 1960 in Zanzibar, devout Muslim, mother of four children.
She studied public administration in Tanzania and graduated from Manchester University with a degree in economics.
In the ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), she rose from clerk to MP, then minister, and finally vice-president at Magufuli's side.
Hassan is described as a level-headed person and a good listener.
As deputy chairman of a commission to reform the constitution, she showed diplomatic prudence.
She is also said to have a sense of humor.
And occasionally she goes quite a few ways as "Mama Samia" - much to the annoyance of her party comrades.
For example, she visited the seriously injured opposition politician Tundu Lissu in hospital;
the lawyer and later presidential candidate narrowly escaped death after an assassination attempt allegedly orchestrated by the state secret service.
"Now we're under the control of a woman"
But is Hassan up to the highest office in the state?
That question came up despite its brilliant start.
"Some men said right away: For God's sake, now we're coming under the control of a woman," says Nkwabi Ngangasalama, a well-known TV series star.
"But people trust her."
Some analysts are skeptical about the turnaround.
Ringisai Chikohomero from the South African Institute for Security Studies (ISS) warns that Hassan does not know the networks of her apparently all-powerful predecessor;
the loyalty of the security forces is also by no means guaranteed.
Other experts object that Hassan has no power in the state party that has been in power without interruption since independence in 1961.
At their head, as everywhere in Africa, the men are in charge. Among them are many Christians who are probably only reluctantly to come to terms with the leadership of a Muslim woman.
Added to this are the reservations on the Tanzanian mainland: the new president comes from the small, semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar, and nationalists fear that the tail will wag the dog in the future.
more on the subject
First woman at the top: An opportunity for TanzaniaBy Fritz Schaap, Cape Town
Genital mutilation: "Men treat women differently who stand on their own two feet" By Sonja Peteranderl
German Colonialism in Africa: Where's Mangi Meli's Head? By Katja Iken
But Hassan made it unmistakably clear to all the doubters and doubters: From now on I will be the boss!
However, it will only be able to enforce its strict course if it takes its party and the population with it and proceeds cautiously.
Because Magufuli he was very popular, especially among the poor.
The fact that millions of people mourned him was hardly mentioned in the reports in the foreign press.
The people called him "Bulldozer" because he cleaned up the ailing administration thoroughly and fought corruption and the muddle in the bureaucratic apparatus.
And because he forced international mining companies to transfer at least a 16 percent stake to the Tanzanian state.
His "raw material nationalism" was admired all over Africa.
John Magufuli is leaving behind an economically up-and-coming country, the latest forecasts predict growth of 5.7 percent for this year.
But the late president was also a narrow-minded autocrat who brooked no criticism or contradiction.
He had elections rigged, TV stations, newspapers and websites critical of the regime shut down and recalcitrant journalists thrown in jail.
Preserve the old and dare to try the new with a hijab and a respirator
Now Samia Suluhu Hassan is following in his big footsteps.
Country experts say that it will only be able to assert itself through a clever double strategy: On the one hand, she must appear as Magufuli's "heir" and continue the economic success of her predecessor, on the other hand, by means of a political paradigm shift, she must reverse his antidemocratic laws.
Preserving the old and daring the new: Hassan leaves no doubt about her will to reform.
Every day you see her on the front pages of newspapers with her forefinger raised, a confident Muslim woman wearing red or purple hijab - and a respirator.
In spite of all the euphoria, caution is also advisable: in Africa there have often been promising changes of power, and many a bearer of hope turned into an evil dictator in the end.
But first of all, Samia Suluhu Hassan can count on a leap of faith.
Overnight she has become a new role model for women and girls in Tanzania and across the continent.
She has led her country out of international isolation.
And it could prove that an African state can be better governed under female leadership.